Kherbet Rouha
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Kherbet Rouha (Template:Langx) is a town in the Rashaya District of Lebanon. It lies in the Bekaa Valley, about Script error: No such module "convert". northwest of Mount Hermon. The town is known for having the largest mosque towers in Lebanon (tallest minaret: Script error: No such module "convert". in height).
People from Kherbet Rouha have migrated to many points around the world, mainly Canada, United States, Brazil, and UAE. In Canada, most families originating from Kherbet Rouha are represented in Edmonton, Alberta and Calgary, Alberta,. North America also has many citizens from Kherbet Rouha that live in other cities such as Lac La Biche, Windsor, Woodstock, London, Winnipeg, Toronto and Dearborn, Michigan. There is also a small group of early immigrants to the United States who settled in the Turtle Mountain region of North Dakota. Several families still remain there almost a century later. It is still possible to visit one of the oldest Islamic cemeteries in the United States in Dunseith, North Dakota, with tombstones dating back to the early 20th century.[1] There is no mayor.
Etymology
The name Kherbet Rouha literally translates to mean "broken soul". A legend says the village originally was named Madinat Al Rouha'a, which translates to mean the City of Souls, but many wars and natural disasters "broke" the village seven times giving it a broken soul.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". It is also believed that the meaning of Kherbet Rouha is of Aramaic origin, Kherbet meaning "ruins" and Rouha meaning "spirit" making the translation of the name to "Ruins of the Spirit”.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
History
The village was home to the scholar Burhan Al Din Al Bukkai 1407-1480 or برهان الدين البقاعي in Arabic. Civil strife happened in Khirbet Rouha, so he left with his uncle and studied Islam, travelling to Jerusalem and Damascus, then wrote a few books. [2]
In 1838, Eli Smith noted Kherbet Rouha's population being Sunni Muslims and Christians.[3]
In 1974 the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat visited Kherbet Rouha. The area Between Khirbet Rouha and East Bekaa From Helweh To Aita al Foukhar and the area around was Densely Populated with Fedayeen Bases belonging to many factions the most important being in Khirbet Rouha. The town was occupied first by Fatahs Yarmouk brigade Under General Yassin Saada and then by Israeli forces in the 1980s. Among Many songs that were popular among the Palestinian Fedayeen was a song that Fedayeen would chant in front of the Water Spring in Khirbet Rouhas Outskirts where the opening line says. “And at Khirbet Rouha, a tap, the drink of joy for the fedayeen.” [1] [4]
Infrastructure
Agriculture
Kherbet Rouha's land is both on the mountain side and in the valley. Until recently, most of Kherbet Rouha's occupants lived off of their land. The majority of the valley's land was used for growing wheat, chickpeas (hummus), lentils, sunflower, cucumbers, and sometimes a local breed of watermelons which don't grow very large, but are brighter red inside with a thin shell and have few but much-larger-than-usual seeds. The mountain land is usually used to grow trees and vine fruits because of the difficulty with plowing inclined land. The most common are figs, olives, grapes, quince and sumac.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
Traditionally, many people kept livestock as well, most homes until as recent as the early 80s had a donkey or two for transportation. When a home kept livestock, they had a large flock of goats, sheep or a combination, or they had one or two cows and a few chickens and instead focused on their agriculture. Due to the geography of the land, it is still difficult to plow many of the olive and fig orchards and grape vineyards so traditional methods utilizing animals is common place.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
Due to its conservative Muslim Sunni background, the owners of grape vineyards never sold their grapes for wine production no matter how financially strapped they were. Instead, many made raisins and a grape syrup known as "dibis" to sell.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
To preserve agriculture, the villagers built their homes on the mountain side, and in many cases used the mountain as a wall of the house and left the valley land for farming. In recent years, as former immigrants returned home, there was a shortage of living space, and homes have become more commonly built in the valley land. Very few citizens still farm their land.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
Education
In the past 10–15 years, and due to the recently built universities in the area, the youth in the village have become more ambitious with regards to their studies, and the number of university graduates is growing each year. There has been a "westernization" of village life as people focus on the industrialized job market and earn higher degrees.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
Commerce
Many new apartment buildings have been built with rental and ownership options, most commonly buildings are built with multi-purpose to increase revenue and the first floor general are made up of retail and service rental units, the second floor houses medical and professional offices and any other consecutive floors contain residential apartments for rent or purchase.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
References
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Bibliography
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External links
- Khirbet Rouha, Localiban
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Gallery
1970s -1980s
